Cable Repairman Accusedof Molesting Weston Girl, 3

Weston — A cable repairman molested a 3-year-old girl during a home service visit as her parents watched their television downstairs to see if the picture improved, police said.

Jimmy Visbal, 36, of Plantation, was charged Tuesday with child sexual battery, molestation and exhibitionism. He is being held without bail.

"The parents are the type that are very protective and very cautious with their kids," said Broward Sheriff's Office spokesman Jim Leljedal. Visbal "just took advantage when the girl wandered upstairs."

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is not identifying the girl or her family because of the nature of the charges.

Visbal, who works for Advanced Cable Communications, is married and has no prior criminal record in Florida.

A spokesman for Advanced Cable said the company does background checks on all its employees and Visbal did not have a criminal history, a fact police confirmed.

"We have been in business for over 25 years, and nothing like this has ever happened," said company vice president Jim Pagano.

Visbal, who was suspended without pay, has worked without incident for the company for four years, Pagano said.

According to the Sheriff's Office, Visbal went the Weston home on Saturday to fix a cable problem. While he worked, the girl's parents were downstairs, watching their TV screen for signs of improvement.

During the repairs, the 3-year-old girl walked upstairs and Visbal was alone with her for 10 minutes, Leljedal said. He exposed himself and fondled the girl, the police report said.

After Visbal left, the girl told her parents that he touched her, the report says. Her mother pressed for more details, and then called police. The parents identified Visbal from a photograph as the man who came to fix their cable, the report said. The girl later described the molestation to sheriff's sex crimes detectives.

Visbal did not cooperate with investigators, refusing to give a statement, the report said.

In recent memory, there have been no similar incidents in Broward County, Leljedal said.

However, in August, police in Houston arrested a cable TV contractor for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl while installing cable in her home.

In 1997, in Little Rock, Ark., a jury found a cable repairman guilty of rape, kidnapping, attempted murder and arson after he attacked a 23-year-old college student in her home. The repairman, Ceotis Franks, then 23, asked the woman to check her television in 1996 and then raped her and tried to drown her in a bathtub before attempting to set her house on fire.